As a juried wood turner I often have opinions about the art and craft of lathe work. Here I intend from time to time to give my opinions regarding our craft of wood turning along with discussions of woodturning tools, lathes, sharpening and the like as well as entertaining other ideas from turners, artisans and interested parties.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

With the cost of hardwood these days,
it can be prohibitive to turn anything on a lathe let alone practice.
Many beginning turners and even the experienced move to the firewood
pile for turning wood. While the practised turners will have little
trouble mounting the wood, beginners need a couple of hints to get
started.

A lot of firewood will come in sixteen
inch lengths and will be spilt in halves or quarters of the log. For
spindle practice select a quarter log about three inches on a side
with no splits on the end. If there are small splits they can be
dealt with in the shop. Cutting an inch off the ends will generally
get rid of the small splits in a quarter section of log. If it does
not, cut off another inch or get another piece of wood from the
firewood pile.

As you examine the face of the quarter
log you will realize that you can get about a two inch turning square
from the quarter. For all intents and purposes divide the width of
the quarter (three inches) by three and multiply by two. If you have
a bandsaw you can cut the waste away to leave a rough square or it
can be done laboriously with a hand saw. This is not a good cut to do
at the table saw.

Another option is to remove the waste
at the lathe. Starting at the corner of the section measure in an
inch and up an inch on each end. This will give the centers of the
two inch square. At the wood lathe choose one end for the headstock
and the other for the tail. Center the spur center at the headstock
on the center mark of the wood and hit it on the other end with a
mallet to drive the spur center home. Some turners object to this for
fear of hurting the bearings but this if a bearing will be hurt by
such an event it is too light for woodturning.

Bring up the tail stock and center the
tail center on the mark for the square center. Tighten the tailstock
and advance the center to hold the wood firmly in place. Because of
all the extra wood on the log section it will be very unbalanced.
Learning to deal with it is a good exercise in lathe work.

Make sure, with the lathe off, that
the wood clears the tool rest and tighten the rest down. Stand clear
of the wood and turn the lathe on to its lowest speed to make sure
the wood is secure in the centers.

Sharpen a roughing gouge and prepare
to rough down the wood. The tool should be held firmly on the tool
rest and held so that the tip is above the spinning wood. It will
bounce on the uneven wood but not cut. The handle of the tool rests
on the hip and the planned cut will be very near one end of the wood,
usually the tail stock end. As the handle slides up the hip and the
tip moves down the wood a chipping cut will begin as the tool nears
forty five degrees. Cut towards the end of the log. After the cut is
done move down the log a little and repeat. This continues until the
other end of the log is reached. At this point move the tool rest in
towards the wood so as to give better control and repeat until the
wood is round. Now it can proceed as any other spindle.

Firewood is a great source for
practice wood and also for advanced projects. It is dry enough to
work and provides an excellent supply of local hardwoods for
woodturning enjoyment.